Maysie’s Hypnobabies [Hospital] Waterbirth

Thought I’d share a quick birth story of our fabulous Hypnobabies water birth. Early Thursday morning at 6:40 am on November 3rd, 2011 our little girl, Maysie, glided out into a pool of warm water and up into our arms all while sleeping peacefully.

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It all began when noticeable regular pressure waves started (after much walking and spicy food) on Wednesday, November 2 around 4:30 pm. I had been out all day Christmas shopping, but upon returning home I started to notice what seemed to be regular waves about 1hr apart. I continued with my normal evening activities like dinner and putting my 3 year old to bed, but I did notice I didn’t feel much like eating dinner. I had hopes that these waves were the real thing, and after bouncing on my birth ball awhile and watching TV with the in-laws, around 10pm I decided I had best try to get some sleep. Ha! I might have dosed on and off for an hour or so.

The waves were starting to grow progressively closer and while I did continue to listen to the tracks, I found myself struggling to fall deep into hypnosis or the off position. No worries though. Everything was manageable in “center” especially the frequent bathroom trips that accompanied each pressure wave. By 2:00 am the waves were roughly 15min apart and I was cuddled on the bed with my husband using the “relax/release” command and debating going to the hospital so we could set up the pool. I didn’t want to go too early but we did need time to set up the birthing pool and this was our second baby.

Finally when my legs started shaking I decided it was time to go. We were out of the house and on our way to the hospital by 3:00 am. I listened to easy first stage on the way to the hospital and had a couple of mild pressure waves along the way, but really I wasn’t sure I was that far along. I even told my husband that anything under 5 cm we were going back home.

The middle of the night proved the opportune time to drive to the hospital and we were in the ER checking in within 15 min. of leaving the house. The hospital was quite and no one thought I was actually in labor as I was walking around and joking with my doula as my hubby did the paperwork. Even when we finally got a room the nurses were all very relaxed about getting things started which made my relaxing easy. No one was in a hurry and they were all very receptive of our birth plan.

When they finally got around to checking me… I was 7 cm ( thank you birth visualizations) You see, 7 cm had been my goal all along when visualizing my hospital arrival. After that shock for my delivery nurse, the birth pool went up in a flash (15 min really did feel like 5 to me). All the while I was managing each pressure wave with the “release cue” and some counter pressure on my lower back and chatting away with my doula. I was surprised I didn’t want to listen to my hypno tracks at that time as that had been my plan all along, but I guess things change. I was soaking in the nice warm waters in no time.

Warm water is absolutely fabulous during labor, and once I was in the pool I was nearly 9 cm in no time. The nurses even joked that they had best call my midwife again to make sure she was on her way and wouldn’t miss the big event. (She missed my first child’s birth a few years ago.) Once she arrived she just told me to relax and that she’d be back in to check on me in a bit. I must have just look ready cause she didn’t bother to check me again, but instead told me to let her know when I felt like pushing. We listened to quite music and I floated, changing position with each wave, now very close together. At some point she did come back and everyone else did too, but I barely noticed.

They were getting everything ready for the baby’s arrival, and again she told me to push whenever I thought it was time. Yeah. Well even though this was my second baby I had no clue. I remembering asking “really?” over and over between waves. The last cm was a bit intense but manageable. This was nothing like my first birth, and I’ll spare you all that story as it needs a BOP. (*)

I knew my little girl would be swimming into my arms very soon. I pushed whenever I thought I should (though really I thought I just needed to go to the restroom). The pushing the baby out track was playing out loud in the room and while I could only really hear it between the ahhs I know my subconscious was listening. My body did what it needed to do since I was relaxed and I owe that relaxation to Hypnobabies. With gentle continual encouragement and reassurance that everything was OK and “yes you can do this” from my doula, my husband, and my midwives, I AAHHHH’ed her out. The midwives passed her to me and she lay sleeping on my chest for a few moments before we woke her up while drying off.

Hypnobabies helped me have a great birthing experience. I had amazing support from my husband, my doula, the midwives and nurses. All involved were really impressed with the Hypnobabies techniques we used even me. And before we checked out of the hospital even the nurse who teaches the typical hospital childbirth classes came to talk with me about the program in hopes of sharing it with others. Hypnobabies is great if you choose to use it!
Best wishes to all,